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fecurity of ftate, and most unremitted vigor of affection. How fhall the ranfomed of the Lord then fing their Redeemer's praife! Rev. i. 5, 6. "Unto him that loved us,

and washed us from our fins in his own blood, and hath "made us kings and priefts unto God and his father; "to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. "Amen."

II. I proceed now to make fome practical improvement of what hath been faid. And,

1. Let me intreat every perfon in this houfe to make the following obvious reflection: If fo great are the obligations of believers to the love of Chrift, how dreadful mult be the condition of thofe who die in their fins! The one of these explains and illuftrates the other. The believer can owe but little, if the deliverance is not great. I have been lately speaking of the happiness of the elect of God, in being freed from the miseries of the present state; but, oh! unhappy they who fhall depart from this life unreconciled to God: "He that believeth on the Sun hath "everlasting life; but he that believeth not the Son, fhall "not fee life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."When the heirs of glory "fit down with Abraham, Ifaac, "and Jacob, in the kingdom of their Father," the unbelieving and impenitent shall be caft into the lake of fire, "where the smoke of their torment afcendeth up for ever " and ever." I defire to put you in mind of this, under the impreffion of this important truth, That nothing but the fovereign grace of God can make the warning effectual; and therefore befeeching him to accompany it with the powerful operation of his Holy Spirit. At the fame time, I affure you, that if you reject the counfel of God against yourselves, your blood fhall be upon your own heads. Do not pretend to fay, "If it depends upon elec"tion, and almighty grace is neceffary, all our endeavors "will be vain." Secret things belong only to God. His purpose is not more unchangeable than his promife is faithful. Nay, though you may not be able to fee it, nor I to explain it, they are perfectly confiftent the one with the other. He will be just when he speaketh, and clear VOL. I.

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when he judgeth; and therefore give heed to the exhortation, not in my words, but in the words of the Holy Ghoft, Phil. ii. 12, 13. "Work out your own falvation "with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

Know, I beseech you, your own mercy. The neceffity is urgent, and the time is uncertain. With what propriety may the word's of the apostle be addressed to every perfon in every fituation, and in every age! 2 Cor. vi. I, 2. "We then as workers together with him, befeech you also, that ye receive not the grace of God in vain : "for he faith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and "in the day of falvation have I fuccoured thee: behold, "now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of "falvation." Happy they who ftill hear the joyful found! Happy the finner who is not yet gone to his own place! Flee, flee to your ftrong hold, ye prifoners of hope.Confider the aggravated guilt and feven-fold condemnation of the defpifers of the gofpel. All that you have heard of the love of Chrift ferves to fhew the danger of his enemies. Read the words immediately following the afcription of which the text is a part, (ver. 7.) "Behold, he "cometh with clouds; and every eye fhall fee him, and "they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the "earth fhall wail because of him." Read alfo this awful description, Rev. vi, 14, 15, 16, 17. “And the heavens "departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and eve"ry mountain and ifland were moved out of their places;: "and the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the "rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men," "and every bond-man, and every free-man, hid them"felves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains; "and faid to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and "hide us from the face of him that fitteth on the throne, "and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of "his wrath is come; and who fhall be able to ftand?" Mark this extraordinary expreffion, the wrath of the Lamb, that meekeft and gentleft of all creatures; teaching us, that his former meekness, and patience, and suffering, fhall inflame and exafperate his future vengeance..

Could I conduct you to the gates of the infernal prifon, I am perfuaded you would hear Judas Ifcariot, and all othertreacherous difciples, crying out, O that Chrift had never'come in the flesh! The thunders of Sinai would have 'been lefs terrible. The frowns of Jefus of Nazareth are 'infupportable. O the dreadful, painful, and uncom'mon wrath of a Saviour on the judgment-feat !'-The Lord fpeak confolation to his own people, and pierce the hearts of his enemies, that they may be brought to repen

tance.

2. You may learn from what has been faid, that the great and leading motive to obedience under the gospel, is a deep and grateful fenfe of redeeming love. This runs through the whole writings of the New Teftament. It binds the believer to his duty; it animates him to diligence; it fills him with comfort: 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. "For "the love of Chrift conftraineth us, because we thus judge,, "that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he "died for all, that they which live, fhould not henceforth: "live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, "and rofe again." Gal. ii. 19, 20. "For I through the "law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I "am crucified with Chrift; neverthelefs I live; yet not "I, but Chrift liveth in me; and the life which I now "live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, "who loved me, and gave himself for me." That this motive will have the most powerful influence on the believer's conduct, is evident both from reafon and experi ence. No principle takes a faster hold of the human heart than gratitude for favors received. If the mercies be cor-dially accepted, and highly efteemed, which is certainly. the cafe here, nothing can withstand its influence. It reconciles the heart to the most difficult duties; nay, it even difposes the believer to court the opportunity of making fome fignal facrifice, in teftimony of his attachment. Love fincere and fervent overcomes all difficulties; or rather, indeed, it changes their nature, and makes labor and fuffering a fource of delight and fatisfaction. Let but the Saviour's intereft or honor seem to be concerned, and the believer, who feels how much he is indebted to him,

will cheerfully embrace the call, and fet no bounds to his compliance. This thows how much beauty and force there is in our Lord's manner of recommending love and compaffion to our fellow-creatures, Matthew xxv. 40. "And the king fhall answer and fay unto them, Verily I fay unto you, In as much as ye have done it unto one "of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto "me." But to what purpose do I dwell upon this fubject? for a fenfe of redeeming love is not only the most powerful motive to every other duty, but is itfelf the poffeffion and exercife of the firft duty of the moral law, as well as the fum and fubftance of evangelical holiness, viz. the love of God. The firft fin, by which our nature fell, was a diftrust of, and departure from God; and the malignity of every fin we continue to commit, confifts in giving that room in the heart to fomething else, which is due only to God. A fenfe of redeeming love, therefore, expels the enemy, and makes up the breach, as thereby the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.

3. You may fee, from what has been faid, the neceffity of a particular application of the truths of the gospel to ourfelves, and the reliance of every believer upon them as the foundation of his own hope. I have fometimes had occafion to obferve to you, that it is very doubtful, whether any person can fo much as approve in his judgment the truths of the gospel, till he perceive his own interest in them, and their neceffity to his peace. Certain it is, the world that lieth in wickednefs generally defpifes them. However, I fhall admit as a thing poffible, that a bad man may, either by imitation, or the power of outward evidence, embrace the gospel as a fyftem of truth. But furely the love of Chrift can neither be a fource of comfort, nor a principle of obedience, unlefs he confider it as terminating upon himself. Without this, the whole is general, cold, and uninterefting. But when he confiders, not only the certainty of the truth, but the extent of the invitation, and can fay, with Thomas, My Lord, and my God, then indeed the ties are laid upon him; then indeed he begins to feel their conftraining power; then he not only contemplates the glory of God in the grace of re

demption, but cheerfully and unfeignedly confecrates himself to the service of his Redeemer. This leads me,

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Fourth and laft place, to invite every finner in this af fembly to accept of Christ as his Saviour, and to rely upon him as he is offered in the gofpel. To the fecure and infenfible, I know it is in vain to fpeak. But if you fee your own danger, what fhould hinder your belief and reliance on the Saviour? If you either need or defire deliverance, what with-holds your acceptance of it, when it is not only freely offered to you, but earneftly urged upon you? Can you doubt the teftimony of the Amen, the faithful and true witness? The bleffings of his purchase belong not to one people or family, but to every nation under heaven. The commiffion of thofe who bear his meflage is unlimited: Mark xvi. 15. "Go ye into all the world, and preach "the gospel to every creature." They are offered, not only to the virtuous, the decent, and regular, but to the chief of finners: 1 Tim. i. 15. "This is a faithful faying, "and worthy of all acceptation, That Chrift Jefus came "into the world to fave finners; of whom I am chief." Whoever heareth thefe glad tidings, he difhonoreth God, he poureth contempt on his Saviour's love, and he wrongeth his own foul, if he does not receive confolation from them. Be not hindered by what you fee in yourselves, unless you are in love with fin, and afraid of being divorced from it. The gospel is preached to finners. It does not expect to find them, but it is intended to make them holy. A deep and inward sense of your own unworthiness, unless it is prevented by the deceiver, fhould only make you more highly esteem the grace of the gofpel, and more willingly depend on your Redeemer's love.

I conclude with the invitation which he himself gives to the weary finner, Matt. xi. 28, 29, 30. "Come unto me, "all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you reft. Take my yoke upon you, "for I am meek and lowly in heart:

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"reft unto your fouls. For my yoke is easy, and my "burden is light."

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